flowers: [machine_needle_felting] Sharing some of my experiences ...

 
I have a Pfaff  350 P which I have had for about 3 years.  It's a five needle machine and I love it.  The most important thing I found to always remember is...wait until those needles are all the way up and your foot is nowhere near the pedal before you remove your work of art.  It only takes a few seconds & will save you needles.
Re. needles…buy them from Denise (our list Mom) her service and prices are quite remarkable & she has wonderful tips.
 
When I first got my machine I gathered up scraps of various types fabric to determine what punched the best, then I did the same with various embellishments (yarns, etc).  I always test first before I do anything—sewing  or punching.
 
Nice fabrics I found to punch on/into  are duck cloth, denim, fleece, certain tight woven things, etc.  My first trial was done on duck cloth & I mainly tried glitzy, silky type fabs on the duck.  I had purchased Christopher Nieman's book Pillows & Bags.  He had a lot of good ideas but I soon discovered that the key is experimentation (slowly) and I can do that on my own.  My favorite words are WHAT IF. 
 
 I always keep my practice pieces for reminders & quite often repurpose them.  I have photos of a lot of my practice pieces if anyone wants to see them, let me know.
 
When I "covered" my piece of duck as much as I wanted I ironed a thin sheet of interfacing to the back of it & squared it up with my rotary cutter.  Some of the pieces I further experimented with  by doing free motion embroidery over the surface with beautiful threads…also used other things such as jewels, pearls, etc.  
 
Then I tried punching with just the silky pretty fabrics themselves and what I ended up with was a new textured fabric, which I also ironed thin interfacing on the back.  Then I tried the free motion with pretty threads, great stitches etc.
 
Then I got excited about making flowers.  I stacked/layered about 4-5 little tiny scraps approx. 2 inches mostly whacked off in a shape of a circle (nothing precise).  I used organza for these and each scrap was a different color.  I punched the little stack in the center about 3-4 quick times and voila—a flower in about 5 seconds.  Some I embellished with tiny beads, pearls in the center.  I made pins, clips, all sorts of embellishments from these flowers.  Later I found that if I very, very   quickly ran the tip edges of these over a candle flame it gave the flower a more finished look…a matter of choice.
 
The more I experimented the more I enjoyed it …I use all sorts of roving, yarns (love the glitzy ones) I've made white fleece fringed pillows with various yarns on top and fleece fringed scarves can be done in a heart beat.
 
Sorry for the lengthy dissertation but I just wanted to share some of my experiences with you.  
 
Lois